The New York Yankees’ Austin Wells made history Thursday, becoming the first catcher to hit a leadoff home run on Opening Day in MLB history.
Given Major League Baseball’s long history, this seems like an almost impossible achievement. How in the world has this never happened before? However, this wasn’t the only history Wells made on Opening Day. Yes, despite incredulous odds and the Yankees’ outstanding history of all-time great players, Wells also became the first catcher to hit leadoff for the Yankees, and the first Yankees player to hit a leadoff home run on Opening Day.
Why is a catcher hitting leadoff?
Given that catchers are traditionally much slower runners and worse batsmen than other positions, opting for Wells at the leadoff spot was certainly a questionable choice for Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone.
Boone has spoken very highly of Wells in the past though, claiming that Wells is ‘going to become one of the really good two-way catchers in the league.’ Boone also appreciates Wells’ ability to get on-base, a characteristic much desired among leadoff hitters in MLB.
Still, despite Wells’ skill set, putting the catcher at leadoff is still a very rare move. In fact, Wells is just the fifth catcher since 1901 to bat leadoff on Opening Day, with the most recent being Austin Nola for the San Diego Padres in 2022. Jason Kendall is another player who received such an honor, doing it three times throughout his career – 1999 and 2000 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, then in 2007 with the Athletics.
Wells’ home run is also just the 21st leadoff home run by a catcher in any capacity, with the Kansas City Royals’ MJ Melendez doing it most recently on Sept. 28, 2022.
The Yankees prevailed on Opening Day over the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2.
